Review: Chain of Title

Chain of Title by David Dayen presents a never dull story of mortgage fraud and mortgage foreclosure. For a brief time, some would say not brief enough, no income and no assets were required to buy houses. People were pushed into subprime mortgages even when they qualified for better.

When the deceptive bubble collapsed, homeowners in the midst of foreclosure couldn’t always speak to their mortgage holders. Mortgages were repeatedly assigned and reassigned to new holders. Even finding a mortgage holder could be challenging because businesses closed quickly after the crash. Chain of Title asks, if only mortgage holders can legally foreclose, how did certain banks foreclose on mortgages they did not even own? This is the story of homeowners who fought back against unscrupulous foreclosures. Chain of Title should become required reading in American History classes. I listened to the Audible edition, well-narrated by Kaleo Griffin, of this gripping account of foreclosures spawned by the subprime mortgage frenzy.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Chain of Title from Audible in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.